POSTSCRIPT.
SATURDAY NIGHT.
The House of Commons resumed, last night, the Committee on the Income-tax Bill. Schedule D imposes a tax of 7d. in the pound upon the income accruing to every resident in Great Britain, from any pro- perty, profession, trade, employment, or vocation, whether situate or carried on in Great Britain or elsewhere ; and on the income of British subjects, resident in Great Britain or not, accruing from the like sources within this country. For the convenience of Mr. Roebuck in moving an amendment, the clause was split ; and the Committee first agreed to the tax as imposed on income arising from property. On the proposition as applied to the other sources named, Mr. ROEBUCK moved instead, that the tax be at the rate of 30. in the pound. By way of attaining a nearer approach to justice, he took the value of income arising from those sources to bear the same proportion to the value of an income arising from property that an annuity for the life of a man of middle age would bear to the income of fixed pro- perty—at about one-half: 100/. a year vested in land is worth 9,0001. in the market ; a life annuity of 100/. at thirty is worth 5,0001. The tax on either species of income ought to bear a similar ratio. Mr. Gommumr, whose main arguments were afterwards repeated by Lord Jona Rus- SELL, pointed to other kinds of inequality in all taxation, which it were equally desirable, but perfectly impossible to obviate. Mr. Roebuck himself had already assented to the proposition that the mere occupier of land should be taxed in an equal ratio, on the assumed amount of his income, with the owner of the inheritance. What justice would there be in assessing 30. in the pound on bankers with enormous incomes, while such an humble individual as himself, (Mr. Goal- burn!) with small means, sustained a doable proportion of the burden ? The amendment had no tendency to mitigate the inqui- sitorial nature of the tax, which is the great objection urged against it. Mr. STUART WORTLEY observed, that the landlord himself was to pay on his net rental, not on his income, without allowance for various deductions; and he enumerated various kinds of income derived from land—as profits on farming, mines, railways, fisheries, and several others, which are precarious. Mr. HAWES rejoined, that the income of the professional man is more uncertain. A person who makes 12 per cent on 10,000/. invested in trade, ought to pay no more than one who makes 3- per cent on 10,000/. in land, because the greater gains ought to have set off against them the great losses and uncertainty. Mr. LABOUCHERE, voting against Mr. Roebuck's motion, as tending to break down a great resource in time of war, took it as a proof of the general dissatisfaction at resorting at all to so oppressive a tax without more urgent necessity. Sir ROBERT PEEL (who used arguments which had been in part anticipated by Mr. Stuart Wortley) concurred with Mr. Labonchere, in so far as he argued against Mr. Roebuck's proposal ; but remarked, that other taxes which had been recommended, such as Assessed Taxes to be reimposed, would have pressed still more heavily on professional men than the Income-tax. No distinction had been proposed for incomes in Schedule A or B what- ever the various duration of interest : fee-simple, life-interest, and tenancy-at-will, were all taxed equally. If precarious tenure justified exemption, the holders of such offices as he had the honour to fill might claim it. It was to be observed, however, that trade bad a special exemption : the rent being calculated on the gains of the three past years, if it were unsuccessful, it would be proportionately or altoge- ther exempt ; and various allowances are makfor repairs and so forth. But, said Mr. LEADER, it is practically the greatest injustice to charge the tax upon the profits of the three past years, because trade was never so depressed as it is now, and profits never were so small. He charged Mr. Labouchere and some of the Whig Members with desiring to preserve to the bill its unpopular characteristics, that it might bring the more odium on the Government. Lord HOWICK, enforcing a suggestion of Mr. WARD' said that the whole argument against the amendment resolved itself into this—if one injustice were removed from the tax, others would remain. The bill violates the spirit of our general system of taxation on consumption ; which, by enabling the people to abstain from the use of taxed articles, really brings the burden to bear on available income. The argument derived' from the tax on farmers was not sound ; for it is not the occupancy, but the presumed income derived from capital, that is taxed ; and ejected from one farm, the same capital can be transferred to another. The other speakers by whom Mr. Roebuck was supported were Ma. VERNON SMITH, Mr. MITCHELL, MT. WALLACE, Mr. JAMES : he was opposed by Mr. PETER BORTHWICK, (who put in a word for the holders of terminable annuities,) ML EDWARD HULLER, and Sir ROBERT Isaias. The last urged his former recommendation, that not only should incomes up to 150/. be exempt, but that the like amount should be deducted from all incomes above 150/. in assessing the tax ; and he intimated that he had promises of numerical support at the proper time, to which it would be well for the Government not to drive him. On a division, Mr. Roebuck's amendment was rejected, by 258 to 112
Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD moved to omit the part of the clause relating to "any profession, trade, employment, or vocation"; with a hint that the requisite amount of revenue might be made up by Legacy and Probate duties on land. The House divided on the ques- tion that the portion of the clause under discussion stand part of the bill ; and it was affirmed, by 259 to 50.
Schedule E lays the tax of id. in the pound on income from every public office or employment, and every annuity, pension, or stipend payable out of the public revenue and not charged in Schedule C. Sir CHARLES NAPIER moved to exempt all officers in the Army and Navy under the rank of General or Flag Officers ; a proposition which Captain CARNEGIE pronounced to be rather an insult to the officers than otherwise. After a short debate, the amendment was rejected, by 205 to 32. The Chairman then reported progress, and the Committee ad- journed till Monday.
It was agreed, with the concurrence of Lord Jona RUSSELL, that after Monday the 9th of May, Orders of the Day shall have precedence over Notices of Motion on Tuesdays (as well as Mondays, Wednesday!, and Fridays) so long as the Property-tax and Tariff shall remain under consideration.
A new writ was ordered for the borough of Brighton, in the room of Mr. Isaac Newton Wigney, who had accepted the Chiltern Hundreds.
Richard Gibbons, who had been lying in prison for giving false evi- dence before the Great Marlow Election Committee, was brought up, and discharged, after he had received a severe reprimand from the Speaker. Mr. Tiromas HUNCOMBE took exception to the severity of the repri- mand; contending that Mr. Gibbons did not NI Holly perjure himself before the Committee. Sir ROBERT PEEL bore testimony to "the most fitting and becoming manner" in which the Speaker had performed a merely Ministerial duty : " the journals will sustain the high character which he has acquired in the execution of his public duties." On the motion that the House do adjourn till Monday, Mr. Teem- GER said, that upon reconsideration, he was more fully convinced that the Speaker's warrant, for violating which Mabson bad been detained in custody, was no longer valid ; and be moved that the House do ad- journ till this day (Saturday.) Another amendment by Sir Cite.aiss NAPIER, that Mabson be discharged from custody, was negatived, by 67 to 14. The original motion was also negatived, by 42 to 39; and thus Mr. Thesiger's motion was substantially affirmed.
In the House of Lords, the Royal Assent was given, by Commission, to the Corn-Importation Bill, the Spirit-Duties (Ireland) Bill, and some private bills.
The other business of the Lords was unimportant. The Marquis of NORMANBY revived the discussion on the appointment of Tory Bo- rough Magistrates ; and some recrimination was carried on by hits, Lord LYNDHURST, and others on either side, with no result ; and some' questioning about Mr. Biddulph's case was equally resultless.
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